Israel-Lebanon live: Netanyahu tells UN to ‘immediately’ remove peacekeepers from Lebanon after five wounded

The UNIFIL peacekeeping force in Lebanon said that it had reported additional Israeli violations against its positions in the country, including what it described as the forcible entry of Israeli tanks through its main gate on Sunday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is examining a plan to seal off humanitarian aid to northern Gaza in an attempt to starve out Hamas militants, a plan that, if implemented, could trap without food or water hundreds of thousands of Palestinians unwilling or unable to leave their homes.

Israel has issued many evacuation orders for the north throughout the yearlong war, the most recent of which was Sunday. The plan proposed to Netanyahu and the Israeli parliament by a group of retired generals would escalate the pressure, giving Palestinians a week to leave the northern third of the Gaza Strip, including Gaza City, before declaring it a closed military zone.

Those who remain would be considered combatants — meaning military regulations would allow troops to kill them — and denied food, water, medicine and fuel, according to a copy of the plan given to the Associated Press by its chief architect, who says the plan is the only way to break Hamas in the north and pressure it to release the remaining hostages.

The plan calls for Israel to maintain control over the north for an indefinite period to attempt to create a new administration without Hamas, splitting the Gaza Strip in two.

There has been no decision by the government to fully carry out the so-called “Generals’ Plan,” and it is unclear how strongly it is being considered.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has told her Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu that attacks on U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon are unacceptable, her office said on Sunday.

“Prime Minister Meloni reiterated the unacceptability of UNIFIL being attacked by Israeli armed forces,” the Italian government said in a statement.

Italy is a significant contributor to the UN mission known as UNIFIL.

In a phone conversation with Netanyahu, Meloni also called for the “full implementation” of the UN’s Security Council Resolution 1701 on Lebanon and stressed the urgent need for a de-escalation of conflict in the region, her office said.

Pope Francis reiterated his call on Sunday for an “immediate ceasefire” and asked for the UN peacekeepers in the region to be “respected.”

“I continue to follow with concern what is happening in the Middle East,” the pontiff said during his Angelus prayer from the balcony overlooking St. Peter’s Square.

“Let’s pursue the paths of diplomacy and dialogue to achieve peace,” he added, stressing he feels close to all the peoples involved: Palestine, Israel, Lebanon. He prayed for all the victims, the displaced, the hostages, saying he hoped they would be released “immediately.”

The pope wished “that this great and unnecessary suffering generated by hatred and revenge will soon come to an end.”

Iran on Sunday warned the US to keep its military forces out of Israel.

The comments came in a post on the social platform X and referred to the possibility that the U.S. might send one of its Terminal High Altitude Area Defense systems to Israel.

A move of the complex system, known by the acronym THAAD, to Israel would involve the deployment of soldiers to operate it.

Israel has been escalating its campaign against Hezbollah with waves of heavy airstrikes across Lebanon and a ground invasion at the border after a year of exchanges of fire. Israel is now at war with Hamas in Gaza and Hamas’ ally Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The Israeli military ordered residents on Sunday of 21 more Lebanese villages to evacuate to areas north of the Awali River which flows through southern Lebanon, as it intensifies its attacks in the region.

An Israeli strike on the central Gaza Strip killed a family of eight, Palestinian medical officials said Sunday, as Israeli forces battled Palestinian militants in the territory’s north and airstrikes destroyed a century-old market in southern Lebanon.

The strike in Gaza late Saturday hit a home in the Nuseirat refugee camp, killing parents and their six children, who ranged in age from 8 to 23, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in nearby Deir al-Balah, where the bodies were taken.

It said a further seven people were wounded, including two women and a child in critical condition. An Associated Press reporter counted the bodies.

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Israel’s military said it continues to operate in southern Lebanon to dismantle Hezbollah infrastructure.

“Over the past day, the IAF (air force) has struck approximately 200 Hezbollah targets deep in Lebanon and southern Lebanon, including terrorist cells, launchers, anti-tank missile posts, and terrorist infrastructure sites,” it said.

Israel also said five launches that crossed from Lebanon were intercepted by the air force.

The Israeli military added in a statement on Sunday that one of its reservists and an officer were severely injured in two separate incidents during combat in southern Lebanon, with additional soldiers suffering light to moderate injuries.

The Israeli military also said that it captured a Hezbollah militant in southern Lebanon after discovering an underground tunnel leading to a hideout, where they found an area with weapons and supplies for extended use.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged the United Nations on Sunday to evacuate troops in its UNIFIL peacekeeping force from combat areas in Lebanon.

Netanyahu said the military had asked the UN to evacuate the soldiers repeatedly, adding that their presence in the area made them hostages of Hezbollah.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz reiterated on Sunday that the country considers UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres persona non grata due to his failure to condemn Iran’s missile attack and what Katz described as antisemitic and anti-Israel conduct.

Katz had said on 2 October that he was barring UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres from entering the country because he had not “unequivocally” condemned the missile attack.

Iran fired more than 180 ballistic missiles at Israel on 1 October amid an escalation in fighting between Israel and its proxy in Lebanon, Hezbollah. Many were intercepted in flight but some penetrated missile defences.